


We'll Have Halloween on Christmas

by orphan_account



Series: Shoes!Verse [8]
Category: My Chemical Romance
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-09
Updated: 2012-06-09
Packaged: 2017-11-07 08:33:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/429003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Frank wakes up on Christmas morning, he groans at first, because there's way too much light shining in the bedroom window for his liking.  Next, he smiles, because it's his first Christmas waking up with Gerard in bed next to him, so he turns and stretches out and--</p><p>Gerard isn't there.  Gerard's not lying next to him where he'd been when Frank fell asleep however many hours ago.</p>
            </blockquote>





	We'll Have Halloween on Christmas

**Author's Note:**

  * For [jokerindisguise](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jokerindisguise/gifts).



Gerard had planned on doing it on Halloween. He thought it'd be perfect, you know? Fancy dress, blood and guts, candy corn, the decorations and just a tiny bit of alcohol.

Of course, things don't always work out how you want them to, and what with All Hallow's Eve being Frank's birthday and all, the idea of _just a tiny bit of alcohol_ doesn't really compute with Mr. Iero. Nope. In fact, on Halloween, Frank's birthday, Frank is so god damned wasted that Gerard has to practically carry him home from the VIP room they'd rented (well, Gerard and Frank's parents had rented) for the party, and has to strip him down, carefully tug off Frank's (fake)bloodstained boots and tuck him into bed.

It kinda makes Gerard sad when Frank gets this drunk -- not because Gerard's this hardcore-sober-straightedge kid, _god no_ , but because he knows Frank won't remember anything in the morning, and that's gonna suck, because it was a pretty wicked night (there were freakin' _balloon animals_ \-- Gerard has no idea how the hell Mikey pulled _that_ one off).

So no, Gerard doesn't do it on Halloween. And he doesn't do it at Thanksgiving either (not in front of everyone, _god_ , that would have been _way_ too embarrassing for even him). It gets to the point where Gerard doesn't even think he's going to do it, because he can never find the right moment.

It's annoying, really. Halloween would have been _perfect_ \-- without considering it's Frank's birthday, it's Frank's favourite night of the year. The smile on Frank's face as he covers himself in fake blood for whatever gory creature he decides to be is enough to make Gerard fall in love with him all over again. And while the might have not been together for years, Gerard knows Frank's routine -- he'll get up earlyish, even if he's not working, and go for a Halloween/birthday lunch with his mother (and father, if he can make it into town), then he'll spent the afternoon and early evening dishing out candy from his mother's door, because there's nothing quite like the joy on a little witch or a little fairy's face when you give them a handful of sugary treats. 

Only it had been different this year, because Frank had Gerard living with him now, so instead of dishing out candy from his mom's place, he did it from _their_ place, together with Gerard. It had been an experience for Gerard -- when he got too old for trick-or-treating, he'd never really stuck around to see his mom give out candy, he'd been in his basement with his friends getting drunk and high, or at a party, getting drunk and high. So, watching Frank give out handfuls of candy corn and lollipops with a shit eating grin and some devil horns on his head...well, it really warmed Gerard's heart. And _that_ is why he wanted to do it on Halloween, because after that display...well, he just _knew_.

But of course, it hadn't worked out like that, and now it was almost Christmas and Gerard _still_ hadn't done it.

Frank is sitting on the sofa with a guitar in his hands one night while Gerard is on the floor, a sketchpad out on the coffee table, sketching what he assumes was a skull (sometimes even _Gerard_ doesn't know what the fuck he's drawing). It's raining outside and it kind of makes Gerard sad -- it's almost Christmas, and he'd really like it if it didn't rain all fucking season. 

Frank starts strumming some chords and Gerard looks up, frowning. "I know that." He says, and Frank laughs.

"I hope so!"

"Who is it?"

Frank rolls his eyes. "Blink 182, dipshit."

Gerard sticks out his tongue, then goes back to his sketching, shading in the eyes, before he finds himself drawing a bony neck, then a strange looking cravat and pin-striped suit...

Then suddenly, Gerard has the perfect idea of how to do it.

***

When Frank wakes up on Christmas morning, he groans at first, because there's way too much light shining in the bedroom window for his liking. Next, he smiles, because it's his first Christmas waking up with Gerard in bed next to him, so he turns and stretches out and--

Gerard isn't there. Gerard's not lying next to him where he'd been when Frank fell asleep however many hours ago.

Frank frowns and sits up, staring around the room. Gerard isn't there, but on the chair in the corner, there's a pin-striped suit with...a skeleton mask? 

Frank screws up his face and grabs for his cell phone, just to check he hasn't got his days confused. Yup, it's December twenty-fifth, so he's not going crazy.

Frank sighs and gets out of bed and pads his way to the chair. There's a note written in a familiar scribble, just on top of the suit.

_Don't ask any questions, just put this on, please xo g_

Frank rolls his eyes. This has got to be another one of Gerard's weird art experiment things, right? He sighs and does as the note asks anyway, because it's Christmas, and who is he to ruin someone's fun on Christmas morning? (Especially when Gerard had agreed to come to Frank's mother's for Christmas dinner and suffer through the probing and questioning from all Frank's distant relatives that Gerard hasn't met yet)

Frank shuffles back to his bed and yawns has he slides his feet into the skeleton bone slippers Gerard got him for his birthday a few months back, adjusts the skull mask so it's pushed up and on the side of his head, then starts to make his way to the living room, thinking that Gerard better have coffee on if he expects Frank to deal with this shit at this time in the morning -- on _Christmas_ morning.

However, coffee is the last thing on Frank's mind when he gets to the living room. Suddenly, he's questioning his sanity again, because it doesn't look like Christmas in his living room anymore. Sure, the Christmas tree is still there with presents piled under it, but the rest of the room...well, it looks like Fall. Well, not Fall exactly, but _Halloween_.

There's black and orange streamers hanging from the ceiling, mixed in with the snowflake ones Gerard and Frank had made together a few weeks previously. There's the pop-up statues of a witch, black cat and a vampire that Frank was sure he'd packed away over a month ago. However, the one thing that _does_ catch his eye is a big jack-o-lantern in the center of the coffee table, bearing a strange resemblance to a certain inked one on Frank's own back.

And then there's Gerard, who's standing nervously next to the Christmas tree...with stitches painted all over his face. Frank frowns and tilts his head, looking at him. He's dressed in a patchwork dress but with his pyjama pants on under it, and whilst it's not the first time Frank's seen Gerard in a dress (and probably won't be the last time), it's still an odd sight to see on Christmas morning.

"Uh, Gerard?" Frank asks, and Gerard gives him a week smile.

"Happy Halloween?" Gerard offers, and Frank laughs.

"Don't you mean 'Merry Christmas?'"

Gerard shakes his head, and he quickly walks over to Frank and takes one of his hands. "I wanted to do this at Halloween, but I couldn't 'cause it was your party and you were drunk, and I wanted you to remember it."

Frank's completely lost now, and he just blinks at Gerard. "Okay..."

"Okay." Gerard says. "Right. Okay." He takes a step back and kind of shakes his body, as if he's loosening up. He's biting his lip and making some of the facepaint smudge. Next, he's getting down on one knee and--

"Gerard?!" Frank squeaks, but Gerard just holds a hand up and stares at the floor for a few seconds, before he finally looks up at Frank.

"Okay. _Okay,_ " he says. "Frank. _Frank._ "

Frank just nods, and when Gerard takes his hand again, Frank doesn't know what to do but stare.

"I know we've only been together a little over a year," Gerard says shakily, and his free hand is fumbling in the pocket of the patchwork dress (which, on closer inspection, looks suspiciously a lot like some of Frank's mom's old curtains). "But I love you with all my heart. I can't imagine what my life would be like without you. I don't _want_ to imagine."

Frank swallows hard, his heart beating like a drum against his rib cage.

"You're my everything, and there is no work of art in this world that could ever compare to you," Gerard's voice wobbles. "Will you marry me?" He pulls out a little velvet orange box -- a little velvet orange _pumpkin_ box -- and opens it to reveal two matching silver bands.

Suddenly, it all kind of makes sense. The Halloween decorations, the costumes, the facepaint and skeleton mask.

"You made me Halloween on Christmas?" Frank chokes out, and Gerard just kind of blinks up at him, like he's too scared to move or say anything else.

Frank doesn't know why the room's silent, because he's pretty sure his voice should be working right about now -- it's not like him to be lost for words now, is it? And really, there's only one answer in his mind, and that's--

"Yes," Frank says, and he can't help but laugh as Gerard's eyes widen, as though he expected Frank to say anything else. "Yes, I'll fucking marry you!" Frank practically yells, and next thing he knows he's throwing himself down onto Gerard and wrapping his arms around his neck and burying his face in his messy hair.

"Thank god," Gerard whispers before Frank quickly kisses him, then sits back on his heels to let Gerard shakily slip a silver band onto his ring finger. Frank grins and steals the little orange _pumpkin_ from Gerard's hand and takes the other ring, and slips it onto Gerard's finger.

"Okay." Gerard says, and he lets out a little laugh. "Okay.

Frank holds out his hand, and he doesn't care how fucking girly he looks, he's fucking _engaged_ and he wants to admire the _ring on his finger_.

"I love you," Frank says, looking back at Gerard who's doing the exact same thing. "I love you so fucking much."

"Good." Gerard says, and he shuffles forward, hiding his face in Frank's neck. "Or else all this probably wouldn't have worked."

Frank laughs. "You didn't need to go to all this trouble -- I'd never say no to you."

Although he can't see it, Frank can feel Gerard grin against his skin.


End file.
